Clock issues can’t stop Valkyries in win over Caitlin Clark-less Fever

SAN FRANCISCO Chase Center turned into a glorified night club on Sunday night After electrical issues caused multiple shot clocks to malfunction and choppy officiating gave way to numerous review stoppages the fan cam inside the arena was put to work The basketball encounter almost seemed like background noise as fans were requested to dance to a mix of Bay Area classics and new age pop music with each tournament stoppage Both the Valkyries and the visiting Indiana Fever were both visibly frustrated by the start-stop nature of Sunday s contest that took two hours and minutes to complete But what mattered largest part is that the Valkyries gave the sold out crowd of something to dance for after the encounter ended Golden State Valkyries' Iliana Rupert scores a -point basket against Indiana Fever s Aerial Powers in the fourth quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco Calif on Sunday Aug Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group The Valkyries won their third straight contest beating the injury-plagued Indiana Fever - behind a hot shooting start The -minute meeting was the longest contest that ended in regulation since the Chicago Sky played the Dallas Wings in a two hour and minute tournament on Aug per Elias Sports Bureau Sunday s challenge had five clock stoppages in the first half The Valkyries attributed the clock malfunctions to a power outage that occurred at Chase Center on Sunday morning liana Rupert posted a career-high points and hit -of- shots from the -point line Rookie Janelle Sala n had points four rebounds and two assists Veronica Burton finished with eight points assists and seven rebounds I think it was the first time in all of our lives that we had so much stuff go on but it s not stuff that you can control Rupert explained after the match We really just tried to stay together The fans obviously helped a lot because you can lose potency really hastily and they were pushing us A broken shot clock above a basket during the Golden State Valkyries contest against the Indiana Fever in the second quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco Calif on Sunday Aug Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group The Fever were without superstar Caitlin Clark who missed her th straight tournament with a left groin injury Former Valkyries guard Aerial Powers scored points off the bench and Kelsey Mitchell had points in the loss The Valkyries held the Fever s other star Aliyah Boston to just four points We really tried to be physical with her and try to make the night hard Rupert revealed I think we did that really well So yeah I m happy of the work because it was really a association effort to stop her After two different clock stoppages forced a minute delay in the first quarter the Valkyries went on a run Golden State hit seven of its eight -pointers and took a - lead after the first minutes More stoppages allowed Indiana to come get back within striking distance but Golden State kept the high-paced offense at bay The Valkyries led by as much as in the first half behind a shooting quarter from beyond the arc Rupert and Sala n accounted for of the Valkyries first-half points and the home group led - after two quarters With all the stoppages the first half lasted a whopping minutes but Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase announced the breaks in action helped the Valkyries regroup Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase talks to Golden State Valkyries' Temi Fagbenle during their contest against the Indiana Fever in the second quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco Calif on Sunday Aug Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group We did get to talk about defensively continuing to focus on our championship plan and our execution in terms of the defense and what was hurting us Nakase announced We just tried to make it an advantage as best we can Indiana made headway in the third quarter cutting the Valkyries lead to seven going into the final minutes Powers cut the Golden State advantage to just five with a layup at the mark of the fourth quarter giving the Fever a much needed momentum swing But just as Indiana was on the verge of cutting the lead to a single possession Powers fouled Clark s former Iowa teammate Kate Martin on a -pointer right in front of Indiana s bench and the second-year guard swished the shot to erupt the Chase Center crowd Golden State Valkyries' Kate Martin heads to the basket against Indiana Fever's Lexie Hull in the second quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco Calif on Sunday Aug Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group Martin finished with points Related Articles Valkyries-Fever event plagued by clock malfunctions He represented that underdog story Valkyries Chen Nakase reflect on Jeremy Lin s impact Valkyries magic number Playoff math fan help favors Golden State Why Caitlin Clark is not playing against the Valkyries Where We Live The Valkyries purple madness Indiana never got back into the match after Powers foul Carla Leite iced the meeting when she hit a wild circus shot while getting fouled from the left wing with just over seconds left in the match Despite the odd breaks in the tournament Nakase credited the crowd for keeping the power high That s just great that our crowd doesn t just get frustrated They don t leave They stay behind us Nakase mentioned Credit to our fans for just keeping it lively keeping it entertaining because at the end of the day we do want to enjoy this time When we re all together for two hours and like minutes we want to put on a show We want to entertain people and we want to have almost like a party The Valkyries will return to Chase Center on Tuesday when they play the New York Liberty Golden State Valkyries' Carla Leite scores a basket and a foul against Indiana Fever's Natasha Howard in the fourth quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco Calif on Sunday Aug Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group Golden State Valkyries' Kaila Charles takes a shot against the Indiana Fever in the second quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco Calif on Sunday Aug Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group Golden State Valkyries' Iliana Rupert celebrates her -point basket against the Indiana Fever in the fourth quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco Calif on Sunday Aug Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group